


Cinderella

by Acaeria



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Child Abuse, Gen, Injury, Isolation, this starts off really angsty but it gets happier i promise
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-11-04
Updated: 2015-11-04
Packaged: 2018-04-30 01:43:52
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,619
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5145653
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Acaeria/pseuds/Acaeria
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Pacifica was five years old they had to move house.</p><p>Inspired by this post: "AU in which the Northwests are the poorest family in Gravity Falls."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Cinderella

**Author's Note:**

> The post that inspired this was from gravityfallauoftheday, which as a blog is equal parts silly and inspirational. I'd already had a half-formed idea in my head about the end of this chapter, but this post was what inspired me to write this, and work that idea into it. This will have at least two chapters, though I'm not sure when the second chapter will be released.
> 
> Now enjoy this and berate me in the comments because I should really be working on my NaNo novel.

When Pacifica was five years old they had to move house.

“Why?” she whined, as her mother dragged her out to the car, as pristine and proper as ever. “I _like_ it here.”

“Be quiet!” her mother snapped. “Do I look like I want to be doing this? No! So stop moaning!” Pacifica fell silent, and simply slid onto the car seat, buckling up the belt as she watched her father lock the doors of the family mansion for the last time.

Then, they drove away, leaving the house behind them.

* * *

Pacifica lost most of her belongings when they left the mansion. There were a few toys, a couple of outfits, and some odd nick-nacks she’d been given as presents, but that was it. Dinner was less extravagant, her father worked more- and soon, even her mother was leaving for work, which she had never done before. Pacifica was babysitted by a large boy named Soos, who her mother turned her nose up at and her father never saw.

Pacifica found herself liking Soos; he was loud and cheerful, and always tried to cheer her up with sweets and games. He was unlike anyone she’d ever met before, be that her tutors or the other rich kids who had come to play or the servants or her own parents. He seemed truly interested in what she had to say, listened to her, and told her that whatever she said was great.

Pacifica found herself longing for her mother to leave the house.

But even when she did, she would return, and she’d send Soos home and clean up any sign that he’d been round. She made Pacifica promise to never ever tell her father about him. When Pacifica asked why, she’d simply said, “Your father doesn’t want people like that in our house.”

She never did figure out what was meant by “ _like that_ ”.

The years wore on by. After they’d moved, and her tutors hadn’t seemed to know where to find her, her mother had tried to teach her some things, but soon became too busy to even try. So Pacifica was enrolled in school for the first time at age seven, and the experience blew her mind.

There were so many _people_! Almost as many that she remembered from the dim memories of parties in her head. But this was no ball, with gowns fluttering and delicacies lined against the walls; this was a wild crowd, who moved with a fury like the sea, and all eyes were unfriendly.

In class, Pacifica was great. Though at first she was behind the other students, she quickly caught up, and found that she learned fast. She enjoyed learning, and was always excited to get good grades on quizzes and homework- though her mood always dropped when her parents seemed not to care.

Her parents were different now. They were harder, colder, and tended to ignore her whenever they could. Her mother was thin and bony, with shaking hands that yanked Pacifica’s hair and a rasping voice that grated in her ears. Her father was distant or angry, never in between, and if he cared about his daughter or his wife, he didn’t show it. Both of them would yell and fight, hitting each other with fists and broken glass, drinking from bottles of foul-smelling liquid that Pacifica wasn’t allowed to touch.

Home was a battleground, and school was a shark pool; the library became the only place where Pacifica felt safe. She went there before school and would stay there long afterwards, hiding out for as long as she dared to. Most of the time, her parents wouldn’t care if she were there or not, but sometimes she would arrive home, and get yelled at until she burst into tears and fled to her room.

There were no books in the house but Pacifica had plenty, borrowed from the library and stashed into her bag so that no-one would see. She would stay up late reading under the covers, hiding battered paperbacks under her pillows when she went to sleep. She would read them under the table at school, and out on the steps where she sat at lunch, alone in her own world.

Soos had been forbidden from their house when Pacifica was eight, and she had never been comfortable with the kids at school, so she mostly sat alone. But that was fine with her. It had never really been a problem. It was never something she felt she needed to change.

Until the Pines twins came to town.

* * *

The Pines twins arrived when Pacifica was twelve. They were her age, visiting for the summer from California, and soon became the talk of the town. They were staying with their Great-Uncle, Stanford Pines, up in the Mystery Shack, and they were getting into all sorts of trouble throughout Gravity Falls.

They were monster-hunters, trick-or-treaters, arcade-winners, party-throwers, life-ruiners. They were like characters straight from Pacifica’s books, and as she watched them, she wished that she could join their adventures, because they seemed a whole world away from reality.

* * *

Pacifica had snuck out, and gone to a party.

That wasn’t something she’d usually do, but the party was at the Mystery Shack, and she was curious to get a glimpse of the kids the town had been buzzing about. She hid in the crowd, a plastic cup in her hand and music in her ears, feeling extremely awkward.

She’d left around half way through the karaoke performance, dropping her drink in the grass. Mabel Pines’ voice echoed on the wind, and haunted her all the way down to her house.

* * *

Pacifica first spoke to one of the twins during Pioneer Day, when she’d bumped into Mabel after the Mayor’s speech. The girl had smiled and said, “Excuse me!”

Pacifica panicked. She glanced at her, frozen in place, causing Mabel to frown at her.

“Are you okay?” she asked, and Pacifica gave a strained hum of agreement.

“Mmm-hmm,” she mumbled, sidestepping to let her past. She turned, watching Mabel run toward her twin, sitting down on the steps as he flicked through some large book.

She stood there for an age, watching them talk, before they went running off. Pacifica shook herself and carried on her way. _You don’t care about them_ , she told herself.

_Oh, but you do._

* * *

The next time she saw them was at a fair being held at the Mystery Shack. If she was honest, the only reason she had gone was to see them; if her parents knew she was there, they’d kill her. _We don’t have the money for you to waste on games!_ they’d tell her. _And besides, what have we told you about associating with the likes of_ them?

Pacifica watched Mabel win her pig, and found herself determined to speak to her. The moment she stepped out from her hiding place, however, she found that she couldn’t do it, and watched, open-mouthed, as Mabel walked away, her chance lost. With a sigh, she turned around- only to walk straight into a very familiar stomach.

“Pacifica!” Soos cried, as both of them took a few steps back. “What are you doing here?” Pacifica shrugged.

“I thought I’d check out the fair,” she mumbled. Soos grinned.

“Well, it’s great to see you, dude! Hang on, I’ll get you my number; we should totally hang out some time soon.” Pacifica nodded.

“Um, okay,” she agreed with a hesitant smile, as Soos scrawled a phone number on a piece of paper. She stared at it for a moment before shoving it in her pocket. “I should go,” she told Soos, before turning and running without another word.

“See you, dude!” he yelled after her, waving.

She hid behind a tree, pulling out the number and grinning at it. She didn’t have a phone, but that didn’t matter. _Someone thinks I’m worth talking to._

* * *

For Pacifica’s birthday, her grandmother had mailed her a free voucher to the mini-golf park in town. And though Pacifica hadn’t gone mini-golfing since she was five years old, she took the opportunity one day, and found herself so glad that she had.

The Pines family was there, and after a while of watching, Pacifica noticed that Mabel was very, very good.

Shaking herself and berating herself for staring, Pacifica began her game; she was clumsy from being out of practice, never getting anything under par. She began to get frustrated, and considered giving up.

“Here,” said a familiar voice, and Pacifica jumped as Mabel Pines wrapped her hands over Pacifica’s and putting the ball. It went in the hole at once, and Mabel let go, smiling at Pacifica. “You’re almost there! Just keep trying and you’ll get it down.”

“Oh,” Pacifica mumbled, “Um, thanks.”

“No problem! Hey, I could teach you if you like. We could team up!” Pacifica gaped at her.

“Um- you’d really- why?”

“I just really love mini-golf. And I feel like you really love mini-golf too.” Pacifica hesitated, then nodded.

“Okay,” she agreed, and Mabel grinned.

“Great! How about eight o’clock tonight?”

“Isn’t it closed then?”

“Yeah, but my Grunkle Stan says that if rules only matter if you get caught.”

“Oh.”

“So, I’ll see you tonight?”

“Yeah, I’ll see you tonight.”

* * *

In hindsight, maybe going golfing after dark in a town like Gravity Falls wasn’t the best idea.

But God if it wasn’t fun.

* * *

Pacifica _hate hate hated_ her house.

She hated her parents. She hated that it so small, suffocatingly so, and that there was nowhere to hide. She hated that it was a mess and no one was allowed inside. She hated that it smelled funny and that she wasn’t allowed to leave.

She hated it when she curled up on the stairs, watching as her parents screamed, unable to leave, unable to look away.

How she wished she would have moved.

All of a sudden, her father turned on her, yelling. Pacifica scooted back, but he was on her in a moment, grabbing her by the hair and throwing her to the floor, yelling loudly and nonsensically, words slurring into each other. Pacifica’s eyes stung with tears, watching through a watery screen as her mother launched herself at her dad, yelling and screaming, until he pushed her to the floor. Pacifica gasped, crawling over to her mother, shaking her limp body.

“Mom? Mom, wake up. Mom, _please_.” Her mother stirred, blinking open her eyes, blank and unseeing. Pacifica let out a sigh of relief.

Her father shrieked at her, waving his arms and smashing the bottle in his hand on the wall. The liquid trickled down the wall, staining the wallpaper a dirty brown. She shivered, watching it, focusing on it as the bottle came down on her head, stunning her and cutting up her skin, blood trickling down her face.

Her father calmed slightly after that, storming out of the house, the remains of the bottle lying on the carpet in front of Pacifica’s face. She watched the mingled blood and alcohol drip from the glass shards for an endless while, before pulling herself to her feet.

She grabbed her coat from the hook, wrapped her mother’s scarf around her head, picked up her school bag from the hall, and fled out of the door.

* * *

“Pacifica?” Dipper Pines’ voice was full of confusion. Pacifica shivered, cold from the rain and dizzy from the blood loss and shock.

“H-H-Hi, Dipper,” she stammered. “C-Can I c-come in-n-n?” He frowned, suspicious, but stepped out of the way.

“Sure,” he agreed, dragging out the word as she stumbled inside. Mabel appeared at the door, confusion in her face.

“Pacifica?” she asked. “What’re you doing here?” Pacifica shook in the centre of the room.

“I didn’t know where else to go,” she admitted, voice small. Mabel’s eyes widened.

“Are you _bleeding_? Dipper, go get the first aid kit!” Dipper vanished out of the room as Mabel took Pacifica’s arm and led her to the TV Room, sitting her down in a chair. Pacifica hugged her knees to her chest as Mabel pulled the makeshift scarf-bandage out of the way, her face a picture of horror.

“I’m back! _Wow_.” Dipper arrived in the room with a first aid kit in hand. Mabel took it from it and opened it, looking from its contents to Pacifica, as if unsure of where to start.

The twin’s great uncle appeared in the doorway.

“What’s all the commotion- holy firecrackers, kid, what happened to you?” Pacifica shrugged as the old man drew closer, drawing in closer to herself. Stanford Pines stopped in his tracks, realisation creeping across his expression. “Your old man do this?”

Pacifica hesitated, then nodded, hiding her face in her knees. She heard Mabel gasp, saw Dipper stiffen, and the next thing she knew, Mr Pines was on his knees in front of her, pulling her chin up and inspecting her face. Pacifica went still, watching his face intently.

“Man, he really did a number on you, didn’t he? What’d he use? Knife? Belt buckle?”

“Bottle,” Pacifica mumbled, and he nodded.

“Yeah, that’d do it, all right. May I?” Pacifica hesitated but nodded, and he picked up a compress, dabbing it at the edges of the wound. She gasped, squeezing her knees, and he winced. “Sorry, this will hurt. Better clean it up now, though, you wouldn’t want it to get infected.” Pacifica nodded, trying her best to relax and stay still, staring straight ahead and wincing as he cleaned up the gash on her head.

Finally, he pulled out one of the largest plasters she’d ever seen, and placed it over the cut. “That’ll do for now,” he decided. “It could really do with stitches, but I don’t really wanna explain to a hospital why I’m taking you. I could probably do it myself, but you’d be best of with a doctor.”

“Thank you,” Pacifica whispered. He sighed.

“It’s not a problem, kid. And you can stay here as long as you want.”

“Thank you.”

“Kids, set her up in… eh, I dunno, Soos’s room or somethin’?”

“Sure, Grunkle Stan!” Mabel agreed, her voice slightly too strained. When the old man left the room, Dipper was already gone, and Mabel was there to help Pacifica to her feet. “Come on, Dipper’s gone to get the bed ready. Do you want anything to eat? Drink?” Though her first instinct was to decline, Pacifica made herself bite her tongue.

“Some water, please?” she asked, and Mabel nodded.

“Yeah, I’ll get you some once you’re in the room, it’s just- here!” Dipper was there, placing a sheet down on the bed. He glanced up as they arrived, stepping back as Mabel pushed Pacifica onto the bed. “Okay, I’ll be right back!” she said, giving them a thumbs-up before running off.

“Are you going to be staying here with us?” Dipper as Pacifica sat on the bed, feeling dizzy and ill. Pacifica shrugged. “It’s fine if you do. You don’t- you don’t have to go back there, you know.”

“I know,” Pacifica whispered.

“You know, I always thought you were a little weird. You’re too quiet. But- you’re pretty strong, you know that? Agh, what am I _saying_? Sorry, I’ll shut up now.”

Pacifica giggled. “It’s fine. I’m not good at talking either.”

“That’s a relief. At least I’m not the only one.”

“Yeah.”

Mabel returned at that moment, a glass of water clutched in one hand. She handed it to Pacifica with a smile. “Here you go. Um, we’ll leave now. Goodnight, Pacifica.”

“‘Night,” Pacifica mumbled, watching them go and pull the door to.

She took several sips from her glass before putting it down on the floor and falling asleep.

**  
  
  
**


End file.
